US Immigration from Canada

Hello everyone,

I just wanted some insight, my spouse is a Canadian citizen, and when we married almost 10 years ago at first we were long distance until we decided to stay in Canada and do long distance as he had no interest in moving to states at the time. I still have my place with my parents in NYC because I was always going back and forth which is where we will be going to, I got a job offer as a nurse there as well. However my most recent taxes I believe was 2021. I will be using my mom as a joint sponsor as well as working there for a few while my husband stays behind in Canada. We also have 2 kids one born in the US another in Montreal but we have filed for her CRBA. We want to do consular filing, but I ve been browsing the internet and am so confused. What is the process and has someone experienced the same thing as me ? How long did it take ?

I'm filling out the I-130 for my wife and I'm confused on what to answer for this question:

Reason being, my wife's mother had a petition filed by her USC sister. I have no idea what stage this petition this is at, and neither does my mother-in-law or her sister. Apparently it's been so long that they have no idea what they wrote and can't even find out where the form went.

Maybe they filed on paper and they didn't keep a copy. In said petition, I was told "most likely" that my wife was included as a dependent. Again, no clear answer, but it makes no sense to petition for your sister and not include their kids if they are eligible.

(Regardless it doesn't matter anymore since she aged out and also got married to me, so she doesn't qualify for that petition anyway.)

Another thing is my wife has a B1/B2 that was approved and issued back in October 2024. For this visa, I ended up re-submitting her DS-160 a year later her original application because all of her information changed due to the marriage.

On the DS-160, I answered that no, she did not have a petition submitted. If that "no" was a lie, I'd guess they would not issue the visa for misrepresentation unless they overlooked it.

I'm leaning towards "No", but I'm not sure if I would be better off answering Unknown.

Would answering as Unknown look bad on the application? Does it even matter? Or am I reading the question wrong?

Thanks in advance for the insight.

Hello Everyone,

I hope you re all doing well. It s been a little while since my first post, and I wanted to share an update and get some advice regarding the next steps in our immigration process.

Update on Our Situation:

My children have successfully received their CRBA (Consular Report of Birth Abroad) and passports (yay!). We are now just waiting for their Social Security Numbers (SSNs) and cards. A quick note for anyone currently going through this: the SSNs are not automatically issued with the CRBA, so I had to apply for them separately and in person after the CRBA interview in the States. Just something to keep in mind if you re in the same boat!

Next Steps An Application for My Husband:

Now that we ve crossed that milestone, we re moving on to filing the paperwork for my husband s spousal visa. We are planning to file for an immigrant visa (ideally a spousal visa), but I m a little unsure about the exact forms we need to file and how to navigate the process, especially since we are currently living in Canada.

Here s a bit more context about our situation:

• I do not have U.S. residency at the moment, which might complicate things slightly.
• We are living in Canada, and my husband and I are both self-employed.
• I work as a freelancer for a company in Texas, but I don t have a full-time job in the U.S. at this time.
• Once we reach the interview and final stages, I plan to seek employment in the U.S.
• We have two small children, and we don t want to be separated as a family, so we ve decided to stay in Canada during the application process.

Our Question:

Given our situation, we are considering having a U.S. family member (who is financially stable) act as the sponsor for my husband s visa. Is this a good option, and if so, what additional forms should we expect to file along with the I-130? I ve seen forms like I-130A, and I want to make sure we re filing everything correctly to avoid delays or issues down the road.

Additionally, would it make sense to explore any other types of visas given our current circumstances, or is the spousal visa still the best route?

Timeline:

We re giving ourselves a realistic 2-year timeline from the date the application is received by U.S. immigration. This should give us enough time to plan accordingly, but we want to make sure we re taking the right steps to avoid unnecessary setbacks.

Any insights or suggestions from those who have navigated this process would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your help!

Additional questions:

-For the police background check and the panel doctor exams, should we do this first and submit these items all together or should we wait to submit them until they are requested?

-If we proceed with the I-130 route, am I the one who will fill out the information and add the sponsor (my family member living in the states) document to the application?

-Will the sponsor need to accompany us to the interview when that date is set?

-Since we live in Canada, do we get to chose the office to process our application or will that automatically be chosen based on us living in Canada? (I'd like it to be processed in Pittsburgh, PA but that might not be an option)

-What are the general timelines for the I-130 from the date that it is received, to the interview, to approval? How many months after an approval is sent do we have to move to the US?

The below lists are for information to submit with the I-130 application. However, if we need to go a different route then the below might not be relevant. Either way, here are my lists:

I am planning on submitting the following for our relationship documentation:

-photos of family events, vacations, our wedding, time with our kids, etc.

-screen captures of text messages and/or emails
-marriage license/certificate from Canada

-marriage vowel renewal certificate from our church in the US

-birth certificates of our children

-joint bills/statements that have our names on the same form

-mortgage statement

-affidavit letter from our priest in Pittsburgh, PA (we are looking to move in that area)

-affidavit letters from friends

Financial documentation:

-US and Canada bank statements for me and my husband

-tax filing information for the US and Canada

-business plan for my husband and the company he would like to start once he moves. Along with proven track record of work completed in Canada (not sure if this is needed but we will have this ready)

-US based sponsor financials/forms (if needed)

-paystubs and employment letter from my current US employer

-retirement plan information

-liquid assets (if needed)

Documentation for my identity: (not sure what I need to submit but I have all this info ready to go)

-US passport

-US birth certificate

-Canadian driver's license

-expired US driver's licenses (yep, I kept mine)

-Baptismal certificate

-Tax forms (I have filed every year since moving to Canada... how many forms should I send)

-employment letter from current US based employer (I freelance for them while living in Canada)

-HS report cards/transcripts

-University transcripts

-University diplomas and awards

-US banking information

Documentation for my husband's identity: (not sure what I need to submit but I have all this info ready to go)

-Canadian passport

-European birth certificate (with original translation)

-Canadian citizenship documentation

-Baptismal certificate

-First holy communion certificate

-Canadian driver's license

Hi everyone! After 14 days of our approval, we did a public inquiry and we received this email. Should we wait further or email them our I-797 (NOA2)? Thanks!

My Canadian passport has my maiden name on it while my green card has my married name. I started the process to change the name on my green card (timeframes were estimated at 18-24 months). It took less than 3 months and they renewed my green card as well.

Now, I would like to travel back to Canada as my dad passed away. I don't want to wait for my Canadian passport to renew. Can I book a one-way trip there with my passport name and the return ticket in my green card name? Or do I book everything in my passport name and carry my marriage certificate with me.

Thank you!